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By Ken Warren, Ph.D., SLU/YouGov Poll Associate Director

Our February 2023 SLU/You Poll continues to show fairly strong approval ratings for Missouri鈥檚 political leaders, especially when compared to the relatively low approval ratings given by Missouri鈥檚 likely voters to President Joe Biden. Only 36% of Missouri鈥檚 likely voters said they approve of President Biden鈥檚 job performance with just 15% 鈥渟trongly approving鈥� and 21% 鈥渁pproving鈥�. This 36% approval rating is identical to the overall 36% approval score he received in our August 2022 SLU/YouGov Poll where 12% said they 鈥渟trongly approved鈥� of his job performance with 24% 鈥渁pproving鈥�. This relatively low approval score is driven largely by the extremely low percentage of likely Missouri Republican voters approving of Biden鈥檚 job performance. While 87% of Missouri鈥檚 Democrats approved of Biden鈥檚 job performance with 43% 鈥渟trongly approving鈥� and 44% 鈥渁pproving鈥� (44%), only 2% of Missouri鈥檚 Republicans did with 1% 鈥渟trongly approving鈥� and 1% 鈥渁pproving鈥�.

Likely voters' responses to 'Do you approve or disapprove of the way each is doing their job: President Joe Biden?': 15% Strongly approve, 21% Approve, 12% Disapprove, 50% Strongly disapprove, and 3% Not sure. Democratic voters' responses: ' 43% Strongly approve, 44% Approve, 6% Disapprove, 3% Strongly disapprove, and 3% Not sure. Republican voters' responses: 1% Strongly approve, 1% Approve, 12% Disapprove, 84% Strongly disapprove, and 2% Not sure.

Biden has never impressed Missouri鈥檚 more conservative voters. In the 2020 Presidential election, Trump defeated Biden in Missouri by a lopsided margin, 57% to 41%. Nationally, Biden fares much better. Not only did he win the 2020 presidential election by better than 51% to 47%, recent national polling shows Biden polling stronger than he has since the beginning of his presidency with a 2/21 YouGov poll showing 48% approval with 50% disapproving (-2) and a 2/16 NPR/PBS poll showing 49% approving and 45% disapproving (+4). 

Missouri鈥檚 likely voters rate their elected leaders much more positively. Governor Mike Parson received a 50% job performance score with 11% 鈥渟trongly approving鈥� and 39% 鈥渁pproving鈥�. In our August 2022 poll he received an identical 50% overall approval rating with the same percentages 鈥渟trongly approving鈥� and 鈥渁pproving鈥�. Of course, ratings are very different for Republicans and Democrats with 82% of likely Republican voters rating Parson positively with only 14% of likely Democratic voters doing so. As expected, predominantly Republican rural regions of the state rated Parson much more positively, especially in SE Missouri where he received 68% approval, than in the metro regions of the state where he received only 38% positive ratings in metro St. Louis and 44% in metro Kansas City. Parson鈥檚 approval percentages were noticeably lower among blacks (20%), all non-whites (31%), post-graduate educated (44%), and younger voters; 18-29 (44%) and 30-44 (40%).

Likely voters' responses to 'Do you approve or disapprove of the way each is doing their job: Governor Mike Parson?': 11% Strongly approve, 39% Approve, 19% Disapprove, 24% Strongly disapprove, and 8% Not sure. Democratic voters' responses: ' 2% Strongly approve, 12% Approve, 31% Disapprove, 46% Strongly disapprove, and 9% Not sure. Republican voters' responses: 20% Strongly approve, 62% Approve, 7% Disapprove, 5% Strongly disapprove, and 6% Not sure.

Senator Josh Hawley received a slightly less positive job approval rating than Parson with a 47% total approval score with 22% 鈥渟trongly approving鈥� and 25% 鈥渁pproving鈥�. His total approval percentage was 1% higher than his 46% approval score in our August 2022 poll. Hawley鈥檚 ratings were better than Parson鈥檚 among Republicans with a 91% total approval percentage, but only 11% of likely Democratic voters approved of Hawley鈥檚 performance with 3% 鈥渟trongly approving鈥� and 8% 鈥渁pproving鈥�. Like Parson, Hawley鈥檚 approval ratings in Metro St. Louis (38%) and Metro Kansas City (43%) were lower than what he received in the rural regions of the state. As Parson, Hawley鈥檚 highest ratings by region were found in SE Missouri (64% approval). Hawley received relatively low approval percentages among blacks (18%), all non-whites (28%), and younger voters; 18-28 (40%) and 30-44 (42%).

Likely voters' responses to 'Do you approve or disapprove of the way each is doing their job: Senator Josh Hawley?': 22% Strongly approve, 25% Approve, 11% Disapprove, 33% Strongly disapprove, and 9% Not sure. Democratic voters' responses: ' 3% Strongly approve, 8% Approve, 11% Disapprove, 70% Strongly disapprove, and 8% Not sure. Republican voters' responses: 41% Strongly approve, 40% Approve, 5% Disapprove, 6% Strongly disapprove, and 8% Not sure.

Newly elected Senator Eric Schmitt (former Missouri Attorney General) received the lowest job approval ratings of the Missouri elected leaders we surveyed with a total approval score of 44%. Since he just stepped into the U.S. Senate seat, this approval score likely reflects an approval score more for his service as AG than U.S. Senator. Schmitt鈥檚 approval score was 6% lower than Parson鈥檚 and 3% lower than Hawley鈥檚. Schmitt received a lower percentage of Republicans approving of his job performance (74%) than Parson or Hawley, but this may be due to a higher percentage of Republicans saying they were 鈥渘ot sure鈥� (21%) compared to 6% 鈥渘ot sure鈥� for Parson and 8% 鈥渘ot sure鈥� for Hawley. This suggests that fewer likely Missouri voters know who Schmitt is.  His approval ratings by region and race were similar to the scores received by Parson and Hawley, although slightly lower.

Likely voters' responses to 'Do you approve or disapprove of the way each is doing their job: Senator Eric Schmitt?': 15% Strongly approve, 29% Approve, 11% Disapprove, 24% Strongly disapprove, and 21% Not sure. Democratic voters' responses: ' 2% Strongly approve, 9% Approve, 18% Disapprove, 51% Strongly disapprove, and 20% Not sure. Republican voters' responses: 29% Strongly approve, 46% Approve, 6% Disapprove, 4% Strongly disapprove, and 16% Not sure.